The Innovators Luncheon is an opportunity for early stage creative startups to present their elevator pitch to a panel of established and respected Venture Capitalists, and a gathering of industry decision makers that is comprised of Web 2.0 Summit attendees. We’re looking for consumer-oriented web or mobile startups with a dedication to peer-to-peer communication, building online communities and if the company proves successful, will likely have a positive social impact.

Eight lucky companies will be asked to join this premier networking opportunity, with real-time VC feedback to help you perfect your pitch. Startups should be for-profit, and pitches can be up to five minutes. Stand and deliver pitches only, no demos.

How To Submit: Using Twitter hashtag #w2sON pitch us your company for consideration! We’re happy to get links to blog posts or videos about your startup. Tell us why you should be selected to join this very special community lunch, hosted by Omidyar Network and held on-site at Web 2.0 Summit.

Company description:
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam in 2004. The firm focuses its investments across two initiatives, Access to Capital and Media, Markets & Transparency. Through its Consumer Internet & Mobile investment area, Omidyar Network invests in consumer-facing online and mobile platforms. Of particular interest are those companies that enable person-to-person connections around shared interests, are community-based and if successful will have a positive social impact. Omidyar Network’s for-profit investments include: Digg, Federated Media, Linden Lab, Metaweb, Meetup, Seesmic, Viikii and Wikia.

People planning to attend this session also want to see:

Todor Tashev

Omidyar Network

Todor leads Omidyar Network’s Financial Capital function, overseeing the process for making, managing, and evaluating investments. In addition, he leads the Consumer Internet & Mobile investment area, making investments that encourage people to express themselves, connect to others with shared interests, and take action on what matters to them. His portfolio includes Digg, Linden Lab, and Metaweb, among others. Todor serves as a board member for Common Sense Media and Meetup, a board advisor for O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and a board observer for Federated Media Publishing and Socialtext.

Prior to joining Omidyar Network, Todor advised the founding team of LiveOps, a leader in the on-demand and virtual call center space, on a range of strategy and fundraising issues. At Tellme Networks, he developed and led the company’s mobile applications strategy, targeting the largest U.S. wireless carriers. Earlier, at JP Morgan, he worked on more than $200 million in private equity investments across a range of industries and investment stages. Todor has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an MA in international economics from Carleton University, Canada, and an International Law degree (LLM) from the Moscow Institute of International Relations.

Ryan McIntyre

Foundry Group

Over the past eighteen years, Ryan McIntyre has been an software engineer, entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist.

He is a Managing Director at Foundry Group, a venture firm he co-founded in 2007.

Prior to Foundry Group, Ryan started his career in venture capital at Mobius Venture Capital in January 2000.

Before joining Mobius Venture Capital, Ryan co-founded the internet search engine Excite in 1993, which went public in 1996 and later became Excite@Home,
following the $6.7 billion merger of Excite and @Home in 1999.

Christopher Bishko

Omidyar Network

Chris’s expertise spans a variety of subsectors within the technology and financial services industries. At Omidyar Network, Chris brings his diverse experience to his role in making investments across the Media, Markets & Transparency initiative, particularly within the Consumer Internet & Mobile investment area. Chris has worked on numerous investments during his tenure and currently oversees a portfolio that includes Quikr, Wikimedia Foundation, and Goodmail.

Before joining Omidyar Network, Chris was an Executive Director with JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he began his career in 1992. During his 16 years in investment banking, Chris held a variety of positions across technology, client coverage, equity capital markets, and proprietary investing. As a private equity investment professional, Chris was a member of a team responsible for more than $450 million of investments. Chris received a BS from Duke University, where he graduated magna cum laude and majored in biomedical engineering and English literature.

Dave is the conference chair for Startonomics.com, and runs a monthly dinner series for entrepreneurs called Startup2Startup.com. He has been a guest lecturer at Stanford University for the nation’s first-ever course on building Facebook Apps. Dave is a board member for microfinance accelerator Unitus, advisor to microfinance lender Kiva.org, and a co-founder of the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network.

From 2005 to 2006, Dave launched and ran marketing for job search engine Simply Hired, and its evil twin Simply Fired. From 2001 to 2004, Dave worked at PayPal as Director of Marketing, where he founded and ran the PayPal Developer Network program. Prior to PayPal Dave was a database consultant and programmer for several companies including Microsoft and Intel. In 1994 he founded Aslan Computing, an internet and e-commerce firm later acquired by Servinet/Panurgy in 1998.

Before coming to Silicon Valley, Dave barely graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with a BS in Mathematical Sciences Engineering and a minor in frisbee, billiards, and foosball. His interests include microfinance and economic innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital, ultimate frisbee, cartoons and animation, and an ever-growing collection of silly hats.

Geoff Yang

Redpoint Ventures

Geoffrey Y. Yang is a founding partner of Redpoint Ventures, a $2 billion family of early-stage venture capital funds. Previously, Geoff was a general partner with Institutional Venture Partners, a firm he joined in 1987.

During his 25 years in the venture capital business, Geoff has emphasized investments in consumer media and infrastructure. He led media and advertising investments including Ask Jeeves, Clicker Media, Excite, Gaia Online, Machinima, MySpace, Scribd, and TiVo. He also led networking investments including BigBand, Calix, Foundry Networks, Juniper Networks, MMC Networks and Wellfleet.

Geoff was formerly Director of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Director and President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC). In addition, Geoff has served on the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC).

Geoff holds a BSE in Engineering and a BA from Princeton, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Comments

Sara Nerius

11/14/2010 1:48am PST

Hi Karthik,
Unfortunately, I don’t show that you are signed up for the luncheon and it is currently at capacity.